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When Good News Comes – An Audrey Update

Waiting for yesterday to come felt like it took forever. Every time I looked at my Audrey,who was absolutely happier to be at home, I saw a little girl who was still not herself, I saw pale cheeks and tired eyes. If I sat to think for more than 2 minutes, tears filled my eyes because I knew that if yesterday’s results didn’t come back good we were in for a long journey – one I wasn’t prepared to face. I spent countless hours pleading with my heavenly Father to protect our sweet girl and heal her body.

On top of that, I wound up sicker than sick this weekend. The stress, lack of eating and sleep that come with time in the hospital with a sick kid and the fact that the stomach flu is going around Chilliwack left me a recipe for disaster. I felt rotten Saturday and most of Sunday, but figured by Sunday night that Monday would be better.

Wrong.

We’ll skip all the gross and disgusting details and just say I barfed, I cried, I prayed, I barfed some more, I went to the hospital for some fluids and some anti-nauseants and I came home to sleep. My Mom was a rock star through it all and took such good care of us, as did my patient and wonderful husband. (Who threw out his back yesterday at work, poor guy! When it rains…)

Anyways, I woke up yesterday feeling tired, slightly nauseous and anxious. Again, with the help of my Mom we got dressed, loaded into the van and headed to the hospital. We were early but our pediatrician didn’t mind. She looked at Audrey right away, then we went for blood work – while Audrey cried a little she was so brave! She didn’t fight and she sat while the put the band-aid on, she did however refuse to thank them for the stickers they gave her, I let her have a pass on that one. We had some lunch, Audrey passed out, fast asleep in the middle of the cafeteria and we headed back up to the ward.

Then we got results…

Her vitals looked good, her temperature was normal (wee!), her lungs and heart sounded good. They got the final results from the ultrasound and there was nothing to cause alarm with either of her kidneys, or the other organs they checked!

As for her blood work, they didn’t have all of the results back yet, but they did have most of the important ones. Her hemoglobin was up to 86! That’s 10 points up, yahoo! Also, her new Red Blood Cell count was through the roof, again YAHOO! Her inflammatory markers were also back down to normal. Her white cell count and her platelets weren’t back, but those weren’t of as much of a concern.

Here’s what it means:

– Audrey is still very Anemic, and is still bordering on the severe side. It’s like having a 4 litre milk jug, when they let us come home she was barely over the 2L full mark, now she’s around the 2.5L mark – her body is still running on significantly less than it normally would or should. But that number is on the rise, slowly! The rise of the new blood cells as well as her count going up indicates her bone marrow has once again kicked in. They needed the other numbers to know that for sure, but for now we’re assuming it has.

– We have to go back to the Pediatrician in a month to redo the blood work and check those numbers again. We don’t need to do it any sooner, because it was rising and we want to give her little body a break.

– They are also talking about sending her down to a Pediatrician who works out of both Surrey and Children’s who specializes in Kidneys, and kidney research. Audrey’s body seems to take less than 24 hours to jump from UTI to Kidney infection and no more than 48 for that to become serious – with or without oral medication. We can’t have that happening. Each Kidney infection she has from here out could leave her permanently damaged, and those consequences are life altering for all of us. We don’t want to see that happen. Our doctor is hoping that he may want to see her and take a look, see if maybe he is able to find a cause of why this keeps happening to her. I won’t know that until next week.

– We still have to treat this girl with caution. We are no longer confined to our house but we have to be careful where we go and who we see. If anyone is sick or has been around anyone sick, they have to stay away. Her body still doesn’t have the immune system in place to protect its self. For at least the next month, we have to screen who we see, that doesn’t mean we don’t want to see you, but if you’ve been ill please let us know – it’s so important! Another infection for her could mean more time in the hospital, a drop in hemoglobin and trouble.

– She is now onto her maintenance dose of a very heavy antibiotic. For the next 6 months Audrey will be on medication to help prevent another infection. It won’t stop everything, but it should help. She’s also on iron and Folic Acid for another month, again to just help things out.

We are soooooo happy with yesterday’s results! While it’s not a perfect score it’s on the rise and the intense fear has slightly lifted. And for the time being we can resume some of life as normal. We’ll probably be steering clear of church, birthday parties and any major functions for a while. I’ll take her out, but there won’t be at shopping carts for her or playing with toys in waiting rooms.

It’s the small things that will help right now and I’m prepared to do them all. If that means I have to hose you down and bathe you in Lysol before you come into our home, be prepared…I’m a mother who’s birthed two children, nothing embarasses me. 🙂

Thank you again all so very much for your prayers, this has been a long road for us all, and through it all, no matter what the result we knew that God was good, that He was faithful and that His love was overwhelming – thanks to the love we felt from all of you. I have so much to say, but today, I can’t do it.

The ol’ tear ducts are still a little sensitive and too much mush and I’m going to start to cry, to really cry. Something I haven’t let happen because I’m pretty sure, should it start it may never stop.

We are grateful, we are happy and we are still at home! Praise the LORD!!

10 thoughts on “When Good News Comes – An Audrey Update”

You little Rosebud have held my heart in the palm of your wee little hands over the past week or so. I am so glad to see your lips a little pinker and your cheeks with a tinge of rose and the sparkle coming back in your eyes. Jesus has been holding you all along Audrey. His mercy has been extended to you for your body to work hard to start to make you better. Did you know He used you in this past little while? Yes, you were His embassador to bring people together to pray and talk to Him. He loves you so much that He touched the lives of those that know Him and those that don't and brought their hearts to a place of common ground…. you. I love you Audrey. You will forever be Grammy's little Rosebud. You will forever be you and make me so happy I am me. I love you, your big Sister my Sweet Pea, your Mommy and your Daddy. I am thankful that together we can talk to Jesus and thank Him too. Grammy promises (and you know how important promises are to me)…that I will always be in your court praying for you whether it be for your health, your school friends, your boyfriends or your own wee family. Thank you for lighting up my heart with your smile and laughter. You are a treasure and today my heart is a little lighter because you are feeling better a bit more each day. Love you always my Rosebud…. Grammy

Wow! You have all been through the mill! So thankful for Audrey's improvement! Praise the Lord! Ashley, just like you said, washing people in Lysol when they come over wouldn't embarrass you, so should NOT your tears embarrass you. You're a mom whose been worried sick about her baby! You're allowed to "cut loose" now that the worst is over. Have that good cry. It'll be such a release. Know that we are still praying for you all, as you work at getting back to "normal" family life. Be blessed and encouraged. And may you continue to feel God's nearness and strength holding you up.

Ahh soo glad to here my little niece is doing good =)and I'm glad to hear averyone else is ok aswell. Another month and a half i will hopefully have a trustworthy vehicle to come down and visit everyone.

Take care for now, lots of love from your little bro, and uncle travis.

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Gives me reason to believe…

"Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see."
Hebrews 11:1